Silicon Valley pioneer M. Kenneth Oshman died August 6. He was 71.
Oshman, an Atherton resident, died peacefully Saturday surrounded by his family, according to Sinai Memorial Chapel. He was executive chairman of Echelon, a San Jose clean-tech company, since 1989 and also served as the company’s CEO from 1988 to 2009 and president from 1988 to 2001.
Echelon is a pioneer in energy-control systems for smart electric grids, smart buildings and smart devices.
Oshman and three associates founded ROLM Corporation, a telecommunications company, in 1969. He was company CEO, president and a director until its merger with IBM in 1984. He was a vice president at IBM after the merger and a member of its corporate management board until 1986.
He was a past president of the board of the Stanford Alumni Association and past member of the advisory council of the Stanford Graduate School of Business, of Stanford Associates and the board of directors of the Community Foundation of Santa Clara County. He was a member of President Ronald Reagan’s Economic Policy Planning Committee and the Committee to Advise the President on High Temperature Superconductivity.
